Rocker.



Patenta nec. 3|, |991..

(No Modal.)

. l fnvenaz- A I attorney Witnesses,

1n: bams msn-s co., Puorsumo wA muToN u c Nrrn STATES PAT i. Ferca.

ELLSIVORTH J. LIGHT, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROCKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,977, dated December31, 1901.

Application filed March 18, 1901 Serial No. 51,741. (No model.)

T0 all whom Lr may concern.'

Be it known that I, ELLsWoRTH J. LIGHT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Pittsfield,in the county of Berkshire and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rockers, ofwhich the following is a specication.

My invention relates to the rockers of rocking-chairs; and it consistsin the novel construction of the tread-piece of the rocker and thecombination, with the rocker and treadpiece, of a novel device forsecuring the latter to the former, as will be hereinafter fully setforth, and pointed out in the claims.

The objects of my invention are to provide, with the rockers ofrocking-chairs, an elastic tread-piece whereby the rockers when inoperation on a iioor will not travel over the floor and may be operatedin direction transverse to the joints of the floor-boards without jar orshocks and be employed on polished and oiled ioors without marking ormarring the surface of the same and be rocked in part on a mat on thedoor and in part on an unmatted portion of the Hoor without the occupantof the rocking-chair being conscious of an unevenness of the surfacerocked on, and also to provide means for securing the elastictread-piece to the rocker or to a piece on which the rocker mayoscillate.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understoodfrom the following description and claims when taken in conconnectionwith the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of arocker of a rocking-chair embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section at linel in Fig. 2. Fig. 4l is a transverse section taken at line 2 in Fig. 2.Fig. 5 is a section, on enlarged scale, taken at line 2 in Fig. 2 andillustrating the invention and a preferred form of longitudinalperforation provided in the elastic tread-piece. Fig. 6 is a view of thepreferred means for securing the said tread-piece on the rocker. Fig. 7is a section showing a modification of the longitudinal perforationwhich may be provided in said elastic tread-piece, and Fig. 8 is a viewof an exterior form of said tread-piece which may be given to it.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the drawings, A isa rocker of a rockingchair.

B represents the legs to which the rocker is secured. l,

C is the groove for receiving the elastic tread-piece D, which groovemay be concave in form, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, or be made with ahorizontal flat -bottom-form groove C, as in Fig. 8, either of whichforms being adapted to'retain said tread-piece D from shifting sidewise.

D is the elastic tread-piece, made of elastic rubber and preferablyround in form in its cross direction, as shown in Figs 3, Ll, and 5, andmade with a suitable length for correspondence with the length of thegroove C, provided in the lower side of the rocker,when said tread-pieceis suitably stretched and applied to the rocker, to give it a suitablecontractile tension betweenits secured ends,and thereby cause the saidtread-piece to hug close and hard on the bottom of said groove andprevent it from crawling alternately in opposite directions when therocker is being oscillated under weight of an occupant. This elastictread-piece D is perforated longitudinally from one end to the other bya perforation made with any suitable form in cross direction forreceiving a suitable clamping-nut, yet I at present prefer to make saidperforation either oval, as cl in Fig. 5, or rectangular, as in Fig. 7,and with its longest diameter vertical, as shown in said Figs. 5 and 7,while an oblong nut, as shown in Fig. 6, is my preferred form ofclamping-nut, Whether made in cylindrical form, as E in Fig. 5, or witha square form, as E', when the perforation is of rectangular form, asshown in Fig. 7. These oblong clamping-nuts E and E are each provided ata suitable point in its length with a screw-threaded perforation e, madein direction transverse to its length, as indicated by dotted lines inFig. 6. These nuts E E are introduced in the perforation d, one neareach end of the tread-piece, as shown in Fig. 2. Screw-bolts F, passingthrough perforations f, provided through the rocker A and passingthrough perforation d', provided in the upper side wall portion d2 ofthe said tread-piece D and screwing into the IOO screw-threadedperforation e of said nuts, securely hold the respective outer endportions of .the said piece, by means of said upper side wall portiondi, tightly clamped against the face-surface of the groove-form seat O.When the oblong clamping-nutsare inserted properly in place in theperforation d in said elastic tread-piece D and the binding screw-boltsF are tightly screwed, respectively, into said nuts, the said nuts willbe drawn tight against the upper side wall portion of the saidperforations and becomesunken therein, so as to be out of touch from thelower inner side of the wall of said perforations, as illustrated inFigs. 5 and 7. This clearance of the lower side of the nuts E or E fromtouch of the lower inner side of the lower side portion o1' wall'of theelastic tread-piece may be produced, but to a less degree, when thescrew-bolt F is so tightly screwed into the said binding-nut as to causethe latter to indent the material of the upper side portion d2 of thewall in direction from the perforation d toward the face of the grooveC, as shown in Fig. 8. J J, Fig. 2, are endclosing straps, which havetheir lower ends of form of a semicircle of diameter corresponding withthat of the said tread-piece D and are cemented on the outer endsurfaces of the said piece by rubber cement, so as to close over theends of perforation Land have each a portion j extended to a suitabledistance above the groove-form'seat of the rocker and may be secured tothe material of the same by suitable nails.

-M M are metal keepers, one shown in perspective in Fig. l and both insection in Fig. 2. These keepers extend from thepoint of upper side ofthe tread-piece D and are placed over the upwardly-extended portions ofthe said end-closing strips and secured to the ends of the rocker bymeans of nails or screws which also pass through the upper end portionsjof strips J, as shown in Fig. 2.

The manner in which I prefer to apply this elastic tread-piece to therocker is as follows: The groove-form .seat C having been formed in therocker from its lower side and the ends of the said rocker having beenperforated to receive the perforation f for passage of the screw-bolts Ffrom the upper edge to the said seat of the rocker and the elastictread-piece D having been out to a suitable length-say an inch and ahalf shorter than the length of thesaid groove-form seat-the oblong nutsF. wil-l be inserted into one end of the perforation d of said elastictread-piece to a short distance, so as to carry its screw-threadedperforation e opposite the perforation d2, made in the upper side wallof the said treadpiece, when the screw-threaded end of bolt F at saidend will be passed through said perforation d and be entered into thescrew-threaded hole e and be turned in suitable direction so as to bescrewed in said nut E. The opposite end of said tread-piece will beperforated through its upper side wall portion at a point back from theouter end thereof equal to the' distance the lower end of thescrew-receiving perforation f is from the opposite end of thegroove-form seat, and the second oblong nut E will be inserted in placewith its screwthreaded perforation e registering with the screw-threadedperforation d of the upper side wall portion of sail piece, when theoperator will pull lengthwise on said elastic tread-piece and stretchthe same, so as to carry perforation d in said upper side wall andscrew-threaded perforation e of said nut E to opposite the lower end'ofbolt F and then screw the latter into the said nut. These two bolts F Fwill now be tightly screwed into their respective nuts and cause thelatter to be drawn and clamped hard against the inner surface of theupper side of perforation CZ, when the lower side of said nuts will bedrawn toward the upper side wall portion of the tread-piece and out fromtouching the lower side wall portion of the same. The operator will nowtrim thetwo opposite ends of the said tread-piece D and cement thestrips J to said ends and carry their respective end por tions j overthe ends of` the rocker and then apply the metal keepers M M over saidend portions j of said strips and secure them in place by the nails orscrews. When an oc-Y cupant of the chair is rocking in the same, hisweight on the said elastic tread-piece of the rocker will distend thetwo lateral side portions of its elastic wall and also Hatten to adegree the lower surface of said piece wherever in its length it comesin contact with the surface rocked on. This elastic treadpiece preventsthe rocker from moving in the least in any direction in relation to thefloor, and the oscillations of the rockers will be noiseless, and amarring of the Hoor, mat, or carpet by the rockers will be prevented.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, ls-vl. The combination with an elastic tread; piecehaving longitudinally through it from one end thereof to the other thenut-receive ing perforation described, and also having` through aportion of the wall surrounding the said longitudinal perforation, ascrew-receiving perforation of diameter smaller than that of the saidlongitudinal perforation and com municating with the latter, of aclampingnut adapted to be moved in either direction within saidlongitudinal perforation and in relation to the said smallerscrew-receiving perforation corresponding with that of the latter andhaving a length outward in opposite direction from its screw-threadedperforation greater than that of said nut-receiving perforation, and ascrew-bolt adapted to be passed through a piece to which said treadpieceis to be secured and through the said screw-receiving perforation in thelatter and into the said screw-threaded nut, as set forth.

2. The combination with the elastic treadpiece D, of length described,having through leo it from end to end a nut-receiving perforation ofdiameter of greater length in one direction than in another and havingthrough a wall portion thereof in direction of the longest diameter ofsaid perforation two bolt-receiving perforations, described, whichcommunicate at two points in its length from an outer side of the sameto the chamber of said nut-receiving perforation of two oblong nutshaving their screw-threaded perforations running transverse to theirdirection of length and adapted to be received into said nut-reoeivingperforations and register with the said bolt-receivin g perforations andbinding screwbolts of length adapted to be passed through suitableperforations provided in a rocker and through said bolt-receivingperforations, whereby they may respectively be screwed ers over therespective extended portions of 3o said strips for the purposes setforth.

ELLSWORTH J. LIGHT.

Witnesses:

EDsoN BONNEY, O. C. FRANCIS.

